Real Maryland Football Club's standout midfielder, Ben Hunter, stood among a small group of teammates following Saturday's home season finale at Richard Montgomery High School.

Other teammates remained on the bench, wondering how certain victory over the Charlotte Eagles (5-7-7) had become a 2-2 tie.

With a lone road game all that remains of a disappointing 2010 United Soccer League-Second Division campaign, the Monarchs (3-8-8) managed to do something they had struggled to all season, especially at home: score goals.

In its previous nine home games, Real Maryland found the net only three times. The Monarchs nearly equaled that total on one evening Saturday, both coming in the second half, less than 10 minutes apart.

"Every game, we've played some great football, and tonight was no different," said Monarchs coach Anthony Hudson. "Every game we create chances. This was a different game for us because we don't consistently score goals and we scored two tonight; we control games but we've just struggled to finish our chances."

The 2-1 advantage held going into extra time, when what Hunter described as a "mental lapse" cost Real Maryland a feel-good home finale.

An errant throw-in in its defensive third was promptly collected by Eagles midfielder Greg Dalby  on loan from Major League Soccer's Colorado Rapids  and deposited past goalkeeper Brian Visser for the stunning final result.

The first Charlotte goal also came courtesy of a Monarchs' giveaway, though not quite as egregious as the extra time tally. Midfielder Alan Sanchez was dispossessed by Leo Gibson, who quickly got to the top of the box and rifled one past a diving Visser in the 63rd minute.

The goal opened the game up, and Real Maryland finally broke through in the 75th minute, when one of Hunter's several dangerous service balls was deflected past Erik Lefebvre by Monarchs forward Jyler Noviello; "he saw me and gave me the ball," as Noviello would put it.

Only 9 minutes later, former Quince Orchard star Israel Sesay led Hunter beautifully through two defenders, and Hunter capped his impressive performance with what at the time appeared to be the game-winning strike.

"We did the hard part, we came back from one goal down," Hunter said. "Then once again, it's the story of our season: a mental lapse let them back in the game...We put in the performance that should have been a win. It's the story of our season."

Sesay joined the team on loan from the Los Angeles Galaxy, another MLS team, and showed flashes of his brilliance with several athletic runs, as well as the perfectly placed ball to Hunter.

However, Sesay struggled in front of net, contributing to the team's offensive woes. Breathtaking in the open field as he is, inexperience is the drawback, according to Hudson; he said finishing would come with time for Sesay.

For Hudson, it is more disappointing knowing the breakthrough came on the nexst-to-last game of the season, but he remains optimistic for next year.

"It's a little bit of a shame because I wish we would have had this three or four games ago," Hudson said. "But if anyone watches our games they know there's a lot of potential in the team and there's been a lot of positives all season."